Abs & Attitude
by ilovetvalot
Summary: A trip to the gym with Derek Morgan...wouldn't a root canal be more rewarding? JJ/Morgan


_Author's Note: We're excited to announce our Round 3 of our Fanfic Challenge on Chit Chat on Author's Corner forum. The __**Dealer's Choice August Challenge**__ is a great way to stretch your writing muscles! Simply suggest a pairing from the seven main Criminal Minds characters and list three different things to include in the story. (Example: You request Hotch/Emily and your prompts are a starry night, a cashmere blanket and a bottle of Merlot.) Your suggestion will be assigned to another author, and you'll receive a similar suggestion. Your final story must include your assigned pairing and must include at least two of the three prompts you were given in some capacity. Stories can be short or long, romantic or friendship, angst or humor…and anything else in between! Signups will continue through August 2, assignments will be given on August 3, and stories are due by August 31! Please visit the forum or shoot us a PM if you are interested in participating. We'd love to have you! And please visit the forum to read our latest interview with the simply amazing __**JWynn**__! And, please remember our fellow author,__** Angel N Darkness**__, who was in a serious car accident on Sunday. Visit the discussion thread to leave your best wishes. Updates on her condition will be posted there as we receive them. And finally, for those of you that wish to see a different side of talented actress __**Kirsten Vangness**__, please visit __**www. vampiremob. com**__ (delete the spaces) to see her portray the anti-Garcia on a new webisode series._

**Abs and Attitude**

As Jennifer Jareau helped settle the heavy weights Derek Morgan had been bench pressing back into the secure bars of the machine, she rolled her eyes heavenward as another woman paused to gawk at him in the confines of the local gym. Honestly! Hadn't these women ever seen a man without his shirt before?

Granted, Morgan was a great looking man. Even she would admit that. And, glistening with the sweat of his recent workout, she supposed a certain type of woman might find it appealing. But seriously, she couldn't understand how. Or why.

Perhaps it was because she'd worked with him for years and considered him to be an older brother. Maybe it was the fact that she was a rare breed of girl that didn't place a lot of importance on a perfected swagger or a silver tongue. Or, maybe, it was because she'd caught a glimpse of his package on that one occasion and she'd remained patently unimpressed by what she'd seen. Not that she'd ever tell HIM that.

But, most likely, it was because she knew her friend was in love. Partially, with himself. But mostly, with her best friend. And that trumped any other feelings she might ever think of having.

So, the fan club he was collecting was doomed to perpetual disappointment. That's why she was here. She was the designated wing woman...Penelope Garcia's own personal female deterrent.

Glaring at a woman that had been drooling just a little too long for JJ's level of comfort, JJ impatiently shifted her gaze toward Morgan. "Are you done yet?" she asked briskly, her tone reminiscent of wardens in vintage black-and-white prison movies.

"Ten more reps," Derek grunted, reaching for the weights again, blithely ignoring the daggers that were flashing in his colleague's eyes.

"Oh, come on, Derek. Your muscles are big enough already. They match your ego perfectly," JJ replied, frowning as he once again began pumping iron, drawing even more stares from the female occupants of the gym.

"Hey," Derek chided between reps, "My baby girl likes the guns," he growled, making a muscle guaranteed to put many world champions to shame.

Watching darkly as the woman on the treadmill across the aisle perfected the perfect mouth drop, JJ slapped his arm down as she sighed. "Stop that, damn it! You're drawing attention again!"

Grinning widely as he scanned the area, he nodded assuredly. "That's my winning personality and manly physique working in tandem, Girlfriend. Trust me, that takes mad skill," he bragged with twinkling eyes, finally rising from the machine.

Disgusted, JJ narrowed her eyes on the confident man. "That's good. Next workout, you can share those skills with Prentiss. I'm retiring from bodyguard duty. These women look rabid."

"That's because they all see the appeal," Derek chuckled, his dark eyes twinkling as he winked in her direction.

"What appeal? All I see is a sweaty, stinky pain in my ass," JJ grumbled, tugging her tshirt down slightly as she crossed her arms.

"That's the appeal, Sweetness...I'm YOUR pain in the ass. And you're the envy of all these lovely ladies. How's THAT make you feel?"

"Like I wanna scrub my ears with a brillo pad," JJ mumbled, telling herself that maiming her best friend's guy wouldn't help matters at this point. "Just get your ass out the door so that I can deliver you back to Garcia unmolested," she ordered him with a firm shove toward the door. Seconds later, she breathed her first sigh of relief as they finally experienced the freedom of the great outdoors.

"JJ," Derek drawled conversationally, walking by her side to the parking lot. "Did Garcia tell you why she chose this particular gym for me to get a membership at?" he asked with a wicked grin, his eyes crinkling as he took in her frustrated expression.

"Nope, I figured it was the closest one," JJ shrugged, fishing her keys out of her pocket, every thought and movement focused on removing them as quickly as possible before one of his rabid fan club members realized he had escaped their clutches.

"No, that would be the Bureau's weight room," Derek informed her reasonably, his smile growing wider with each passing word. "Mama picked this one for its unique quality."

"And that is?" JJ asked with a roll of her eyes before climbing behind the wheel, waiting impatiently for him to assume his regular position in the passenger seat.

"It's a gay gym...those lovely drooling women...they weren't looking at me," Derek said, his lips literally stretched as wide as possible as he bit back a burst of laughter. "They were looking at YOU, Little Miss Abs and Attitude!"

And, closing her eyes at that significant piece of damning information, JJ vowed grim revenge to her so-called friends.

With friends like this, who had time to worry about enemies?

_**finis**_


End file.
